Andrew Sullivan: MSNBC 'a bunch of hypocrites and phonies'

11/15/13 11:52 AM EST

Sullydish targets MSNBC over what he describes as "the continued violent and homophobic bigotry" of their new Friday night talk host, Alec Baldwin:

What a bunch of hypocrites and phonies on that propaganda network. They’re almost as bad as GLAAD, which has finally – finally – criticized the bigot. But, of course, they haven’t called on MSNBC to fire him. Baldwin, for his part, actually tried to claim he said “fathead” instead of “fag”! And then – no, I’m not making it up –insisted that he had no idea that the word “cocksucker” had a gay connotation. For a litany of his deranged tweets, check this page.

This was MSNBC's fear since Baldwin got the gig in September: that the public outbursts tolerated by the entertainment industry (Hollywood, NBC's '30 Rock') and talk radio (WNYC) would come under far greater scrutiny on cable news. Then again, if the show keeps rating so poorly -- he's lost more than two-fifths of his premiere week audience, which was low to begin with -- Phil Griffin may use the controversy as an excuse to get rid of him.